1895 Cup finalists to stake Super League claim as coach confirms ambition

Wembley-bound York Knights have been tipped as a Super League club in waiting on the eve of their 1895 Cup final showdown with Featherstone Rovers.

Knights’ Community Stadium hosted matches at the World Cup three years ago and a Challenge Cup semi-final this season, while their women’s side, York Valkyrie, have won the female game’s Super League title in successive years and the men are 80 minutes away from lifting a trophy on the biggest stage.

All that is a far cry from 23 years ago when the former York Wasps club collapsed midway through the 2002 season.

As recently as 2015, the Knights’ phoenix club were playing at the ground of amateur neighbours Heworth, but huge progress has been made in recent years and York were 15th on the 2024 IMG grading table, just three places outside the top-flight.

Coach Mark Applegarth, who spent a season as a Super League coach with Wakefield Trinity, reckons Saturday’s Wembley appearance is another step towards that ultimate goal.

“When I got released from Wakefield I was in a privileged position that I could take a bit of time to pick the right job and when York came up, I jumped at the chance,” he said.

“It’s an iconic city, everyone throughout the world knows York, with its history and heritage. It has got a nice, modern stadium and a great training facility. Everything is there for a top-level club.

“It is a passionate fan base, so why shouldn’t it have an ambition to eat at the top table? I think Clint [Goodchild, York’s owner] is doing a fantastic job in terms of the infrastructure he’s putting in place to make sure that ambition gets realised.

“That makes my job simple on paper, I have just got to make sure the team’s performing well.

“I feel we are in a good position and if that opportunity did come up we’d jump at the chance, but from my point of view I’ll just concentrate on coaching an excellent set of lads to try to perform each week.”

York Knights coach gives 1895 Cup final preview

Having been runners-up to Featherstone in the 1895 Cup at Wembley four years ago, there’s a steely determination among York’s players to go one better this time.

Applegarth insisted: “We want to win trophies. I am sure Featherstone will say exactly the same, but it would mean a lot to this playing group.

“Featherstone are a good team, they’ve spent well and they’ll be right in the mix at the end of the year. Both teams are in good form and it’s about who can nail an 80-minute performance. That’s all we are focusing on, making sure we play how we want to play.”

The competition itself has critics, who claim the final should be played away from Wembley as a stand-alone event.

York and Featherstone are Saturday’s third game, after the women’s and men’s Challenge Cup finals, but Applegarth is a big fan of the lower league knockout tournament.

He said: “It’s great, there’s a lot of things we don’t get right, but one we do get right is this competition.

“You’d have to be a madman to think a Championship club is going to win the Challenge Cup in today’s modern world, so I think it’s great the second-tier teams get to experience a big-game environment.

“The only change I’d do is I’d put the men’s Challenge Cup final as the last event, so the atmosphere builds up to that, but I think it’s great Championship teams – York and Fev in this case – get to experience Wembley Stadium.”

Most of the crowd will be drifting away when the 1895 final kicks off at 5,45pm and Applegarth stressed: “I’m going down there to try to win a trophy, so I’m not really bothered about anything else.

“I commentated on the Wakefield versus Sheffield game last year and a lot of fans came down from Wakefield; it was a cracking atmosphere and I remember thinking ‘imagine if they were there for the Challenge Cup final as well’. That’s the only tweak I’d make.”

🚍 𝑬𝑵. 𝑹𝑶𝑼𝑻𝑬.

All of the essentials on board for the lads travel down to Wembley.

✔ Playing cards
✔ Coco Pops#RiseUp | #WeAreYork | #Together pic.twitter.com/uFRBQVykLP

— York RLFC Knights (@YorkRLFC) June 6, 2025